IN BRIEF

IMF chief alarmed over rise in protectionism

JAKARTA: IMF chief Christine Lagarde said yesterday that signs of increased protectionism amid deteriorating global economic conditions were "alarming ", and warned such measures affect everyone. "The latest report by the (World Trade Organization) is quite alarming because there is a rise of protectionism," she said at a business forum in the Indonesian capital Jakarta. The International Monetary Fund managing director also warned that "no country is immune" from the effects of protectionism.

Eurozone okays bailout offer to Spain banks

BRUSSELS: Eurozone finance ministers agreed yesterday to offer Spain €30 billion this month to help its distressed banks as they raced to battle market scepticism over efforts to tackle the debt crisis. After nine hours of talks, Jean-Claude Juncker, the Luxembourg premier who also heads the Eurogroup said a memorandum of understanding for Spain would be formally signed "in the second half of July," with €30 billion available by the end of the month.

Global IT spending to Hit US$3.6t this year

KUALA LUMPUR: Worldwide IT spending is on pace to reach US$3.6 trillion in 2012, up three per cent from 2011 spending of US$3.5 trillion, according to the latest outlook by Gartner, Inc. The company said its 2012 IT spending outlook has been revised upwards slightly from the 2.5 per cent projection last quarter. "While the challenges facing global economic growth persist the eurozone crisis, weaker recovery in the United States and a slowdown in China the outlook has at least stabilised," Research Vice President Richard Gordon said in a statement yesterday.

German court warned over euro crisis

KARLSRUHE, GERMANY: German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble told the country's top court yesterday that any significant delay in approving the EU's permanent bailout fund could fuel financial market turbulence. The Constitutional Court has begun a hearing into whether the EU bailout scheme and budget rules are compatible with German law. "A considerable postponement of (the European Stability Mechanism bailout fund) ... which was foreseen for July this year could cause considerable further uncertainty on markets beyond Germany and a considerable loss of trust in the eurozone's ability to make necessary decisions in an appropriate timeframe," Schaeuble said.

Agencies